Former State Minister for Communications Shahid Jamil Qureshi was taken into custody on Friday after a local court cancelled his bail. A Canadian woman, Kafila Siddiqui, died after Qureshi took her to hospital earlier this month.
The family of the woman has accused Qureshi of confining her against her will at a house where they had both been staying. The minister then last week resigned, saying he did not want to give the impression that he was using his position to influence the case. But insiders say Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz forced him to quit.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Nisar Baig cancelled the bail and police have obtained four-day physical remand of Qureshi from Senior Civil Judge Abid Rizwan Abid. The court has ordered police to produce the accused again on June 26.
Qureshi said Kafila was a friend, and after finding her dehydrated took her to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead on arrival. According to Qureshi, Kafila was an old college friend he had been helping out. Siddiqui's family said they had been trying to contact her for four months without success.